Peach's Castle
Princess Peach's Castle (also known as Mushroom Castle or simply Peach's Castle) is the castle situated within the Mushroom Kingdom and its most prominent landmark. Princess Peach and many Toads including Toad and Toadsworth reside in it. The rooms inside the castle vary from game to game, as does the castle's location. It is characterized by a tall tower supported by four towers along the outside walls in most games. It is usually surrounded by a moat and located in a hilly grassland. Some of the games also have a town of varying size in its proximity, which is often named Toad Town. Description and location In most games, the castle is normally grey marble, but in some games, it is white and even a light cream (Super Princess Peach). Since 1996 it has kept its original highest tower emerging from a wider circular tower underneath - both always in the center of the castle. Normally the main feature of the castle is a rectangular or square shape, with nearly always four towers supporting this part. The roof is nearly always a shade of red, but in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga it was a pale orange. A window is usually present at the front of the palace. There is an image of Princess Peach embedded, painted or carved onto the window. In Super Mario 64, this was the part of the castle Princess Peach was concealed in and is only released when Bowser is defeated. In Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, the castle is a huge palace with many rooms and secrets. Despite having many rooms, there are no regular "living" rooms, such as a bedroom or kitchen. Most of the rooms simply have a large painting in them. The castle also has a basement, the floor of which is oddly coated with water. The castle grounds were also quite spacious in this game. There are plenty of trees that can be climbed up, and the land itself is quite large. A body of water surrounds the castle, which eventually leads into a small pond. In this game, the castle is reached via Warp Pipe. In Paper Mario, the castle differs radically from its 64 counterpart. The palace is still large and has a great number of rooms, but each room has a purpose (there is a library, a bedroom, and many storage rooms), and the lobby is connected to the ballroom. The castle grounds are also much smaller, with a simple fountain and one or two trees outside the castle. Much of the castle's surrounding land was lifted into the air with Bowser's castle, which may explain the seemingly shrunken land; however, even when Mario finally reaches the castle to confront Bowser, no moat can be seen. The castle has no warp pipe leading to it, as it can easily be reached from Toad Town. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the palace was again, like Paper Mario, big and had actual "living" rooms. This castle however was different from the Mario 64 and Paper Mario versions and the garden looked very different (there were no trees either). In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, the castle's conference room was seen in the intro. It is eventually taken over by Fawful and served as the final area in the game. In Super Mario 64, there was a courtyard located behind the castle but it was not visible from the front or roof of the castle in the main gardens. However, the main part of the castle could be seen from the courtyard. The courtyard introduced the magic and mystery of Peach's Castle that the Power Stars seemed to have control over. The courtyard in both the original Super Mario 64 and in the Nintendo DS remake was infested with Boos. Big Boo's Haunt and another secret level were hidden in here. Differing from the castle in Super Mario 64, in Super Mario Galaxy, the castle now has a balcony and several windows. The castle still has the body of water connected to it, but is now close to a nearby town. Also different from the older version, this castle's outside is more detailed. Also in Super Mario Galaxy, the cut-scenes show a more detailed top tower than when playing as Mario in the Star Festival. In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story the castle was controlled by Fawful and was planned to use it against Bowser when he would arrive, Bowser then defeated the castle in the devastating battle. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the castle has fewer windows, no moat, more detail than its DS predecessor, and looks more remote than Super Mario 64/DS and Super Mario Galaxy. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, the castle looks like the castle from Super Mario Galaxy. The balcony from Galaxy is still present, and there are now several vases full of flowers on the grounds. During the invasion of Bowser, several meteors hit the grounds, blocking off the east half of the grounds.